Vanilla Beans: Now I know my A-B-Cs
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IMPORTANT!!!
I haven’t cleaned my mailing list since December 2022 <sigh>. This is why I have 1,000+ inactive subscribers. Eventually, that low-open rate is gonna make me look like spam rather than the helpful, kick-butt newsletter I strive to write.
If you’re reading this, you’re not the problem.
The problem is, I don’t have an easy way of removing the problems. The best we can do is quietly leave them behind.
To continue receiving Vanilla Beans, click the button below and subscribe to the 2026 Mailing List.
In a few weeks, we’ll quietly ditch the old list for this clean list of active readers.
Pssttt… Last week, the subscribe form gave people a 404 error message after hitting submit. The form actually worked and all your subs were saved. It was the fancy confirmation page that flubbed. IF YOU RESUBBED LAST WEEK, NO NEED TO RE-RESUB.
I’m writing this on Thursday but you’re reading this on Saturday. OMG, it’s Snowmageddon!!!
I’m far enough north that the big storm won’t touch us. Instead, we’re getting polar temps. As of now, we’re expecting between -13 and -19 degrees (F), not adjusted for windchill.
You may be wondering what we do for the animals when temperatures get deadly.
For starters, our birds are cold weather specialists. The chickens are fluffy northern breeds and the geese were born with Arctic rated goosedown parkas.
I purchase most of my art supplies from Dick Blick. Shop using my affiliate link to support this free newsletter.
We’re more likely to lose birds in summer than winter. Anything above 85 degrees and we lock the flocks in the barn with ice in a kiddie pool and an air conditioner.
Having said that, I spent yesterday prepping for the cold. We use warming plates rather than heat lamps which could burn down the barn. And we only heat the coops to about 10 degrees. I know 10 still sounds crazy-cold but remember, they’re wearing winter woolies. We also don’t want to break their acclimation to normal cold temperatures.
The birds’ll be fine; you’re the naked one. Bundle up and stay warm!
NOW I KNOW MY A-B-Cs
The reason I started writing about color theory? It goes a little somethin’ like this:
Dear Amy,
I loooove color theory and I know all about the color wheel but…
Everything after the but is something they can’t figure out. And it’s always something that’d be really easy with a bit of color theory.
Yet they can’t do it?
I can never choose the right shade of red/blue/green/etc.
I can’t tell warm red from cool red.
I can’t mix or layer colors well.
I have this nagging feeling that my colors are off.
I don’t understand why my coloring looks dull.
Why does everything I color look like I’m on acid?
Contrast! OMG, I need more contrast!
If this disconnect only happened once in a while, I’d stick to writing about general art stuff. But I hear I-can’t-do-basic-color-theory all the time and it’s worse now than 10 years ago.
It’s not like we’re hurting for information. We’re getting color theory out the wazoo. Everyone loves color theory but nobody knows much about color theory.
Why is this happening???
Hey everybody! Let’s learn the alphabet.
Here we go: the first letter is A. The second is B. Then comes C.
Let’s all sing together— A. B. C.
And again— a, b, c. Say it softly— a, b, c. Yell it louder— A! B! C! Now the whole thing one more time— A. B. C!
Congratulations!
Now you know your A-B-Cs. Next time won’t you sing with me?
Hey, everyone.
Let’s learn color theory!
And sing with me: A-B-C. A-B-C. A-B-C. A-B-C. A-B-C. A-B-C. A! B! C!!!!!
When color theory videos started sprouting all over the internet, I was excited.
Actually, I was relieved.
Whew! She’s teaching Intro to Color Theory. Cross that off my to-do list. I’ll just have my students watch her videos.
Color theory is a hot topic. Search “color theory” and you can watch free videos for days. There was even a best selling book!
And admittedly, the videos are a little basic and they gloss over some important stuff… but I’m patient. They’re just getting the ball rolling, right?
That was chapter one. She’ll cover chapter two soon…
I waited.
And waited.
Here we are, years later and I’m still waiting.
It’s almost like nobody knows there’s anything beyond the first couple pages.
The color wheel stuff everyone teaches… Warm and cool? Analogous and complementary?
That’s not the full story.
Heck, it’s not even a full introduction.
A-B-C!
Half the time, they don’t even teach it right. They use wheels with colors in the wrong order, they put brown on the wheel. Most don’t even show magenta but when they do, they skip purple.
A-B-C!
Color theory influencers try to mix purple and it turns out kinda brownish. And I’ve lost count of all the fakers who use real purple but pretend it was mixed.
A-B-C!
Worst of all, they make it sound like their watered down color theory will solve all your problems.
A-B-C! A-B-C! A-B-C!
Part of the problem with learning anything online is that you’re new to this stuff.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
And when you don’t know, anyone who knows a little bit sounds like an expert.
Even if they just learned it yesterday.
Even if they’re parroting another video.
Even if they’re flat-out wronger than wrong.
Maybe you don’t hear it but to me, colorists talking about color theory sounds like a weird game of telephone. It’s all warped and twisted but presented with confidence.
Which is sad, because if you think back to the first time you heard about using the color wheel for adult coloring, it probably felt like a momentous turning point.
This amazing color wheel will take my art to the next level!
Two weeks later, you were on to some other life-changing technique.
There’s a reason the wheel’s magic didn’t last.
How many words can you make with A, B, and C?
If you want to write poetry, mystery novels, or even a simple grocery list, you’re gonna need 23 more letters.
The color theory you’ve been given is even less than A-B-C.
Warm, cool, analogous neighbors, and complementary opposites… that’s about 1% of color theory. It’s a blip and it’s not even an important blip.
I think you’re ready for the D-E-F and the X-Y-Z.
IF YOU LIKED TODAY’S ARTICLE, SUPPORT FUTURE FREE LESSONS
It’s time to practice coloring. What will you practice today?
Well, I’ve been coloring a lot of flowers recently and I colored a dog last week…
Hang on, that’s NOT practice.
Practice means working to improve a specific skill. Flowers are not a skill. Dogs are not a skill.
Too many people color and pretend it’s practice.
So what should you practice? Let’s find out.
Candy Color is only available at Color Wonk
A whole history of classic courses are waiting for you. Instant access including study exercises.
Real art lessons, not nifty novelty techniques
CURRENT PASSWORD: RubberDuckie
RECOMMENDED COLOR WHEEL AND CARDS
This is the color wheel I bought recently and I only got it because it works with the color cards we use in my Color Coach group. The cards are great. The wheel? Meh, it’s a wheel.
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